This version of the invention relates to high chairs for small children and toddlers, and specifically to trays that receive in locking engagement food receptacles so as to prevent the food receptacles from being separated from the tray by the actions of a small child or toddler seated in the high chair.
Small children and toddlers require the use of a specially designed high chair during the age period when they are learning to eat and drink as an adult. During this phase of childhood, a small child is making the transition from taking liquid nourishment such as baby formula to taking nourishment in the manner of an adult in which the small child is placed in an upright seated position and served solid and liquid nourishment in a variety of receptacles, such as bowls, plates, cups, and the like. A typical high chair simulates for the small child the experience of eating at a table as the high chair provides a seat and a tray supported by arm members so as to maintain the tray in a position adjacent to the seat. The tray functions as a table top or counter top upon which food receptacles and utensils are normally placed.
During this transitional phase, it is common for small children to knock food receptacles over, spilling their contents onto the tray or the adjacent floor surface, or knock food receptacles and utensils completely off the tray. This behavior may be the result of a variety of causes, such as the child becoming agitated or uncomfortable being seated in the high chair, disliking the food being served, or becoming frustrated with the task of learning to handle, manipulate, or otherwise use the food receptacles and utensils. In any event, the parent, guardian, or caregiver must ensure that the small child does not separate food receptacles and utensils from the tray so that the child can learn how to eat like an adult and to take the full serving of nourishment provided on the tray to satisfy the daily nutritional requirement.
What is needed then to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of conventional high chairs and food receptacles designed for use by children taking nourishment while seated in a high chair is the provision of a high chair tray adapted to receive a variety of attachable food receptacles? The food receptacles may be configured as bowls, plates, and the like and can be secured to the top surface of a high chair tray so as to withstand any action by a small child, action that would knock over, tumble, or otherwise position a food receptacle making it unable to perform its intended function of storing and presenting food to the child upon the high chair tray.